WWII camoufleur as much use as fridge at North Pole

Above WWI camouflaged-painted tank-like vehicle with rotating turret gun.

•••

Hugh B. Cott, “Camouflage” in The Advancement of Science. Vol 4 No 16, January 1948, pp 308-309—

[At the beginning of World War II] the possible methods, scope and usefulness of camouflage were by no means generally appreciated. Perhaps you will allow me to give a single example. When early in 1941 I took up my first service appointment, the Brigadier to whom I reported for duty welcomed me with these words—he said: “A camouflage officer is as much use to me as a refrigerator at the North Pole.” It happened that we were no where near the North Pole, but in tropical Africa, where a refrigerator would have been a very useful piece of equipment. However, I was not unduly discouraged by this somewhat chilly reception.

RELATED LINKS

Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? /  Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage /  Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage /  Optical science meets visual art /  Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness /  Under the big top at Sims' circus

Sale-priced books on camouflage / free shipping

full-sized battleground dummies of browsing cows

Above News photograph from the New York Times on September 23, 1917, the year that the US entered the war. The caption reads: “A Pastoral Scene Through Which Runs an Important Railway Link Between the French Firing Line and a Base of Supplies. Only the Browsing Cow Happens to be Papier-Maché.” 

In earlier posts, we have featured comparable photographs of full-sized dummies of browsing cows (made of papier-maché), horse carcasses made of plaster, or human figures for the purpose of deceiving enemy observers.